Tournament Thoughts: Second Round Sunday

#2 Villanova vs. #7 Iowa

Total domination. Villanova just could not miss. There was one point in the first half where Iowa was shooting 50% from the field, and still down by 10, because Villanova was making 60% and getting many more shots because of steals and rebounds.

Impressive performance. Maybe this wasn't the year to keep picking against those heretofore underachieving high seeds, Villanova and Virginia.

But this is what I don't like about spread out the start times are. You have a blowout in the early game and then the next games doesn't start til 3pm. They need to stagger them a little better so there are at least two games on all the time, instead of 3 running concurrently at night.

#6 Notre Dame vs. #14 Stephen F. Austin

Thomas Walkup is this year's Harold "The Show" Arceneaux, the guy on an underdog whom everyone falls in love with. He really plays the game the right way. Make his free throws, distributes the ball, hustles. Good player.

Also a member of Mrs. Poop's All-Facial-Hair team.

There's been at least 3 times in this tournament when CBS showed a "Notre Dame has made its last 6 field goal attempts" graphic.

Huge mistake by SFA to waste possession dribbling around trying to kill time with 3 minutes left and getting a shot clock violation instead of a chance to make the lead 5.
And they did the same thing on the next possession but Walkup drew a foul. And of course he never misses a free throw.

I love how they continued to press, perhaps risking giving up an easy basket. Strange to see a team completely passive on offense and aggressive to the max on defense.

Wow, I hate that defense on the final play. Everyone runs at the shooter who's off balance and falling away, and no one boxes out. Easy putback chance for Notre Dame. Too easy.

#2 Oklahoma vs. #10 VCU If there were turning points and momentum one might have occurred when VCU led 67-66, then gambled for a steal and left Buddy Hield open for a 3. He drilled it of course. And then on the other end, Mo Alie-Cox got called for a travel right before what could have been a 3-point play.

Speaking of Alie-Cox, at his size, 6-6, 250 and muscular build, he could follow Antonio Gates, Jimmy Graham and Tony Gonzalez on the path from college power forward, to NFL tight end.

Big win for Oklahoma, Buddy Hield was awesome. Not sure how he'll be as a pro but a great college player.

#5 Maryland vs. #13 Hawaii

Just cuz you coach at Hawaii does that mean you can't wear a suit and tie like everyone else? I understand the Aloha spirit and everything but Eran Ganot is from Tenafly, NJ.

Great game by Hawaii, they did everything an underdog is supposed to do, they pressed, they ran, they spaced the floor, they shot 3s, but Maryland when on a brief spurt and just buried them.

#3 Texas A&M vs. #11 Northern Iowa

This game was so good, it deserves a separate post.

#2 Xavier vs. #10 Wisconsin Huge game of runs. Every time one team gets some separation, the other team storms right back.

I didn't like too many of Xavier's possessions, being no passes and just a shot. Need to work the ball around.

ONIONS!!! Bronson Koenig!

I hate to say it but that offensive foul was the proper call. I hate that kind of basketball. End of game give the ball to one guy and have him dribble into his man and see what the refs call. Hate that. I want to see games decided by players making plays, not refs making calls.

ONIONS!!! Bronson Koenig! A double order! Holy shit. What a shot. Great play call to get him open as well. Amazing!!!!

This is why they need to stagger these games better and play them earlier. Great finishes but people are worn out and starting to go to bed. And basically action doesn't begin in earnest until 6pm. People would love to watch all day Sunday.

#1 Oregon vs #8 St. Joseph's This is my first chance to really check out Oregon since I didn't see much of them in the regular season or their first round game.

I love DeAndre Bembry's game and his look, and I've seen some projections of him as a first round pick but I don't like his chances to be a great pro. At 6'6", 210 pounds he projects as a shooting guard, but doesn't really have a great jump shot, only 26% on 3s this year.

I don't understand why teams get behind and the first thing they want to do is give the ball to one guy and have him dribble past his man, into three other men and throw up a bad shot. You need passes, you need ball movement.

Oregon took some bad shots, but I'll be damned if they didn't make a lot of them.

How do you get a shot clock violation that late in the game? Just a terrible lack of awareness. You can't have a guy in there who doesn't want to take the big shot.

Oregon survives, and it's going to be fun to watch them against Duke.